In the past few weeks, my roommate and I have been constantly recalling memories from our years at college so far, especially lately, as we design our apartment for our last year. We have been inseparable since we began getting to know each other, 3 years ago to the date, before we had even graduated high school. We were in a group message with 6 other girls, but, for some reason, I felt compelled to get to know her better.

I texted her separately and literally said, “I feel like we’d be good friends.” She always says she remembers sitting in class and reading my text. Her teacher yelled at her for having her phone out, but she told him that it was important. Which it was. It was the start of a lifetime friendship, even though we didn’t know it yet.

She was the only person I knew that loved Sacred Heart as much as me. She knew from the beginning that she wanted to go here. She applied early decision. That’s how sure she was. And that’s how sure I was, too.

When we met at orientation, we clicked immediately. We still click. We are so different, and yet so similar, and it’s a perfect blend. There’s something about the way we are always laughing together that makes my day every time one of us walks into our apartment.

A few months before we started college, I found out that our swim program was adding a diving team. She was a dedicated gymnast with a brutal schedule. She had mentioned to me that the transition from being an athlete to a regular person was going to be difficult. I jokingly mentioned that she should join the diving team, since divers and gymnasts both do flips. She immediately asked for my coach’s contact information and got in touch with him. She learned a full list of diving in no time, and competed at our division 1 level championships. A huge undertaking, and something she probably never thought she would do.

That was how it went for us. The new things that we faced during our freshman year were all together. She held my hand as I cried over my breakup with my high school boyfriend, and I was moving furniture with her at 2:00 AM due to roommate issues. And this was just in the early months of our friendship.

It went on that way all of freshman year, and then sophomore year, we decided that we wanted to live together – it was a no brainer. She was the first call when I had my first seizure. And the second. She encouraged me to get up when I didn’t want to and she laid down with me when I couldn’t. She helped me shower when I got shoulder surgery. She was there every single day, with no avail. It was never a question.

This year was another year of change, from the very beginning. We moved into an apartment, she got a real job, I started looking forward to my future. She was sitting at our kitchen table when I seized for the third time. She heard me and dropped everything she was doing. She turned me over on my side and literally saved my life.

It’s been a whirlwind, there is no doubt. Looking back at pictures of our high school selves is mind-boggling. I am so different, and so is she. Not only has college changed us, but I really do believe our friendship has, too.

Here’s the thing: you have to find those people in your life. The people that are there through it all, that don’t waver, ever. A person you can count on, every minute and every second. A person that can grow with you. That you can’t imagine your life without.